The One
by Sixty Five Roses
Summary: Emily Raydor and her boyfriend come to LA for the holiday season, however, a marriage proposal gone wrong threatens the happiness of the young couple. Sharon tries to help resolving the awry situation. Sharon&Emily Mother!ship and a hint of Shandy.


Of all the reactions in the world to a marriage proposal, Sharon Raydor definitely did not anticipate anger and tears. She didn't react this way when Jack proposed to her three decades ago; she had been the ecstatic bride-to-be, all smiles and kisses, hopes and dreams. Granted, if a marriage proposal ever came her way again, she would not react like the innocent 19 years old girl she once was, but she couldn't imagine herself ending up in the kind of situation that she just witnessed. One thing was for sure – things were completely out of control.

It's has been a while since Sharon saw Emily. In fact, it has been two years and three months since Emily last visited LA. Sure, they spoke on the phone at least once a week and had long Skype conversations whenever Emily had the time. So hearing that Emily was about to come over for the holiday season and bring Carlton, her boyfriend of two years with her made Sharon truly happy. Ricky was scheduled to arrive only the day before Christmas, but Sharon didn't mind. To be honest, she wanted to spend some one on one time with Emily, go shopping together and finally get to meet Carlton face to face. The fact that he chose to spend the holiday with them and not with his family did not really alert Sharon or Emily. It seemed fitting that after Emily spent the previous holiday season with Carlton's family, he would do the same for her the following year. Sharon had only spoken to him on Skype and on the phone before and was stunned to discover that her daughter's boyfriend was what Emily would call 'a hottie'. Truth be told, had she been thirty years younger, she'd be drooling over him just like Emily currently did. In fact, in some ways, he reminded her of the way Jack used to look when he was younger. He had big blue eyes, dirty blond angel curls and a radiant smile that melted her heart so easily that she could see why her daughter fell for the fellow. And his talent didn't lack either – he was a cellist in the ballet orchestra and even though Emily's company worked with several different orchestras, Emily and Carl managed to meet somehow, get to know each other and become a couple. And just like her daughter, Sharon enjoyed his wit, his insights and his views on life. And so, when he wanted to take Emily and her family to dinner, Sharon was quick to agree on behalf of her daughter and newly adopted son.

They went to an Italian restaurant that was fancy enough to make them feel special and cozy enough to allow an easygoing conversation around the table. Throughout the dinner, Sharon couldn't help but watching the way Carl and Emily interacted with each other – the way he caressed Emily's hand with his thumb, the way their gazes locked whenever they looked at each other, the way their lips unconsciously curved upwards whenever they spoke to each other and the shared glint in their eyes. It was clear to see that the two of them were one soul that resided in two different bodies – something that Sharon could never say she had with Jack, nor did she experience with anyone else before or after him. Sharon liked the thought of them together: the cellist and the ballerina – one represented the music and the other the dance, two forms of art that completed and complemented each other. It may have been the champagne that she consumed during their dinner that made her entertain this harmonious imagery, but the idea of her daughter and this lovely man together seemed immensely romantic. That was, until he took Emily hand and turned to her, his eyes moist with excitement.

"Emily, I know you don't like big dramatic gestures, but I also know how important your mother is to you, so I wanted her to be a part of this as well…" he started and if he practiced the words beforehand, it didn't show. He looked at Sharon with a smile and turned to look at Emily again. Then he pushed his chair backwards and kneeled in front of her, pulling a velvet box from his pocket and flipping it open. "Emily Rose Raydor, will you marry me?" Sharon could see the color draining from her daughter's face, her jade eyes widening in what seemed to be pure horror and then filling with rage.

"What? No!" She called out as she pushed her chair back and got up, her hands shaking. Sharon's jaw dropped in surprise. Rusty narrowed his eyes in confusion.

"No? Emily, are you serious?" The happy, expecting expression on Carl's face changed to a mix of shock and disappointment.

"Are you serious? How can you do this to me, and in front of my mom and brother?!" her tone was accusatory.

"Emily, I don't understand… I love you, I want to marry you and…" Emily waved a hand, not allowing him to continue and turned to face Sharon.

"Did you know about any of this?" She asked and Sharon felt as if Emily's gaze was burning a hole through her head. Sharon shook her head and opened her mouth to speak when Carlton placed his hand on Emily's shoulder and she turned around swiftly.

"Em…" before he managed to say another word, Emily grabbed her coat and dashed out of the restaurant, leaving the three of them in a state of shock. Carlton was about to go after her when Sharon placed her hand on his chest and stopped him.

"Carl, don't," she said gently but firmly. He looked at her and then at the ring in his hand and collapsed into his chair, defeated and visibly distraught. Rusty shoved a glass of whatever he found on the table into Carl's hand and then looked at Sharon.

"Are you okay?" he asked her. She nodded and then sat back down, placing her hand on Carlton's shoulder.

"Carl, I need an explanation of what just happened here," she said quietly. He shook his head and looked at her, his eyes tearful.

"She said no," he mumbled, his voice hoarse. Sharon could almost hear her own heart breaking as she watched the man crumbling into pieces in front of her, his face buried in his palms. She looked at Rusty, obviously torn between her loyalty and love for her daughter and Carl's devastation at Emily's rejection.

"Carl, I'm so sorry," she said. "Rusty, honey, can you please go settle our bill?" she handed him her purse and watched him walk towards the nearest waiter.

"What am I gonna do?" Carl looked at her.

"I'm sure there's an explanation for Emily's reaction. Did the two of you argue or have a fight?" Sharon asked. Knowing her daughter, there must have been an underlying issue that caused her uncharacteristic outburst.

"No. We didn't have a single argument or fight in the last three months. I thought she loved me. I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her; I still do." Carl replied. Rusty came back to the table.

"I can't speak on her behalf but from the way she speaks and looks at you, she loves you too. I'm sure what happened here tonight is a misunderstanding and can be resolved. Unfortunately, I don't see a way we can resolve this tonight, so I think the best way is for us to find you somewhere to stay tonight. I'll find Emily and see if I can calm her down so the two of you can talk, hopefully tomorrow," she said in the calmest tone she could muster, even though she was still shaken by what had happened. She turned to look at Rusty and uttered his name softly. "I had too much champagne to drive, so I need you to be the driver tonight. Is that okay?" Rusty nodded. She then slid into her coat and urged Carlton to do the same. "Carl, do you have someone in LA you can stay with tonight or would you like to stay at a hotel?" she asked.

"I don't know anyone here, except for Emily and you guys." Carl looked even more desperate at the thought of being alone in a city he's never visited in his life.

"Okay, we'll get you a room somewhere. There's a Best Western ten minutes away from my condo. We'll see if they have rooms. Is that okay?" Carl nodded and buttoned his coat. Sharon handed Rusty the car keys and they left the restaurant.

The car drive was a silent one, and Sharon glanced towards the back seat several times to check on Carl, who stared out of the window, still looking helpless and desperate albeit calmer now. The first stop was the hotel, where Sharon checked Carlton in. Rusty suggested to drop her off at her condo and then return to stay with Carlton, and Sharon agreed that it may be a good idea; she still wasn't sure why Emily reacted the way she did, but she felt sorry for Carl and maybe Rusty's presence would be helpful to him. After they took Carl to his room, Rusty drove Sharon to the condo, where he picked some clothes and toiletries for himself and for Carl and then went back to the hotel.

It was only after Rusty left that Sharon walked back to her bedroom, wondering where Emily was and when she was going to return home. As she turned on the light, she noticed her daughter's slender figure lying on the bed, her long hair gathered in a loose braid that fell heavily on Sharon's pillow and her back turned to her.

"Em?" Sharon walked into the room and took a seat at the end of the bed, placing her hand just above her daughter's bare ankle. "Are you alright?"

"I'm tired, can we talk tomorrow?" Sharon knew that tone well enough. She remembered using it with her own mother when she was in her teens and hearing it from her own daughter for most of her teenage years. Sometimes it seemed to her like Emily was still sixteen, crying over a bad mark, a treacherous friend or a boy who wasn't interested in her.

"I'd prefer that we spoke tonight," Sharon said. Emily sat in bed and looked at her mother.

"Do we have to?" she asked and the whiny tone did not escape Sharon's ears.

"I think we do, yes," she replied. She took Emily's hand in hers and sighed as she considered her words. "I'd like to know what happened tonight at the restaurant."

"He proposed," Emily's voice was flat.

"Yes, I got that part, and also the part where you said no," Sharon said, her voice warm. "What was that about?"

"It's just… you won't understand, Mom." Emily looked at her mother with tearful eyes.

"Try me," Sharon said softly.

"I don't… I can't get married ever, okay?" Emily's bottom lips trembled as she tried to stop herself from crying.

"Honey, is there something I should know about? Are you sick or pregnant or…?"

"Pregnant? Are you kidding me?" Emily's face became flushed.

"What?" Sharon asked, becoming more and more confused about the situation with every moment that passed. "Are you?"

"No, I'm just… It's would be the last thing I want right now."

"Okay, so why don't we just go back a little bit and you explain to me why you can't get married?" Sharon asked.

"It's because of you." Emily's statement made Sharon's jaw drop.

"Me?"

"And dad." Emily added.

"I see. It's because of the divorce, isn't it?" Sharon sighed. Emily nodded slowly and then shook her head.

"It's about your marriage. I don't want this to happen to me, Mom," Emily admitted. "I don't… I don't want a marriage like yours; I don't want to find myself raising children on my own, or catch my husband with another woman, or to scrape him off the bathroom floor because he drank too much."

"Does Carl drink, cheat or gamble?" Sharon wondered. Emily shook her head. "Then why would you think all of this will happen to you?"

"It happened to you, Mom. You were so in love with each other and you were a perfect couple, but it still happened to you. Dad still drank and cheated and then he left us. And all the love that you had for each other was not enough to keep you together. And now you're getting divorced." Emily's voice weakened with every word.

"You're wrong, honey. You're so wrong. What your father and I had was a childish love. We were together since high school and we married straight out of college; we were both foolish, inexperienced and naive to think that our relationship could ever work in the long run." Sharon sighed. "But you are not a child anymore, honey. You're 28, you've had long term relationships before Carl and you are mature enough to know if this is the man you want to spend your life with or not."

"You can't guarantee that if Carl and I get married, we'll never get divorced, Mom," Emily argued.

"Honey, there aren't any guarantees in life." Sharon replied softly.

"So what you're saying is that I should say yes to Carl," Emily stated.

"No. What I'm saying is that you need to let go of the fear that you won't have a successful marriage. You can have anything you want. If you love Carl and you see your future with him, I think that you should reconsider your answer to him. And if you're still not ready to make that decision, I suggest that you talk to him – maturely – and decide how you want to proceed," Sharon replied.

"Oh, God, there must be an easy way to do this, right?" Emily looked at her mother with a hopeful gaze.

"No, honey. But I believe that if you sit with him and discuss this and be open with him about what you feel, you can find a solution together," Sharon smiled softly at her daughter. Emily looked into her mother's eyes and sighed.

"Dad is an idiot for giving up on you, Mom," she said softly.

"You know, since I filed for divorce I realized that maybe he just wasn't the one for me and that makes me feel much less sorry for myself than I was before." Sharon shrugged.

"So you think your 'one' is still out there?" Emily asked.

"I think I may have a clue who he is," Sharon admitted, winking at her daughter.

"Wait, Mom. Are you dating someone?"

"I wouldn't say dating… but we've been going out to dinners and stuff," Sharon grinned as she saw Emily's mouth opening in surprise. "And there seem to be some mutual feelings between us. I'll let you know when I figure things out, okay?"

"You promise, Mom?" Emily asked. Pulling her daughter into a hug, Sharon kissed her temple and nodded.

"I promise," she said. She would never tell Emily, but her motherly senses told her that Emily already found her one and if she was right, things between her daughter and Carl would be just fine. And she would be too, because her second chance at love was right around the corner, waiting patiently for the day she'll cease to be a married woman.


End file.
